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Senji Singavaram Ranganatha Temple
The Senji Singavaram Ranganatha Temple (aka Singavaram Perumal Temple) is a cave-temple in India dedicated to God Ranganatha and Goddess Ranganayaki Thayar. The temple is a Pallava period structure, and was reconstructed and patronized by Krishnapa Nayakkar of Senji Nayak dynasty.. Description The Singavaram Ranganatha temple is located about 4 miles from the Gingee Fort, with the Queen's Fort linked by tunnels to this temple. The 24 feet long idol of Ranganatha, carved from living rock, is in a reclining pose on the coils of the serpent Ananta. A panel in the rear wall depicts the Gandharvas and Brahma, in which Brahma is born from the navel of Vishnu. Besides Garuda, the demons Madhu and Kaitabha who were killed by Vishnu are depicted. Goddess Bhoomidevi graces the feet of the lord while Prahlada sits near his knee. Pallava cave temples, cut from rock, dating to the time of Mahendravarman or Narisimhavarman (580-688 AD), exist in Melacceri as Maddileshvara temple and at Singav ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
RANGANATHA PERUMAL DRAWINGS IN MARRIAGE HALL
Ranganatha, also known as Ranganathar, Rangan, Aranganathar, Sri Ranga, and Thenarangathan, is a Hindu deity with his origin in South India, serving as the chief deity of the Sri Ranganathaswamy Temple, Srirangam. The deity is a resting form of Vishnu, recumbent on the great form of the serpent demigod Adishesha, the king of the serpents. His primary consort is the Goddess Lakshmi, also known as Ranganayaki. His two other consorts seen next to his recumbent figure are Bhudevi and Nila Devi. Most of the deities portray a 'smiling' lord in a sleeping or reclining position over the celestial serpent Adishesha in the sea of cosmic dissolution (pralaya). This is the form in which he is open to listening to all of his devotees' woes, and blesses them. Apart from being worshipped by all Hindus, this form is of particular importance to the Sri Vaishnava community. His name in Sanskrit means "leader of the place of assembly", coined from the two Sanskrit words ''ranga'' (place) and ''natha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Varaha
Varaha ( sa, वराह, , "boar") is an avatar of the Hindu god Vishnu, in the form of a boar. Varaha is generally listed as third in the Dashavatara, the ten principal avatars of Vishnu. Varaha is most commonly associated with the legend of lifting the Earth (personified as the goddess Bhudevi) out of the cosmic ocean. When the asura Hiranyaksha stole the earth and hid her in the primordial waters, Vishnu appeared as Varaha to rescue her. Varaha slew the asura, and retrieved the Earth from the ocean, lifting it on his tusks, and restored Bhudevi to her place in the universe. Varaha may be depicted as completely a boar or in an anthropomorphic form, with a boar's head and the human body. His consort, Bhudevi, the personified Earth, is often depicted as a young woman, lifted by Varaha. Etymology and other names The deity Varaha derives its name from the Sanskrit word ''varāha'' (Devanagari: वराह, ) meaning "boar" or "wild boar". The word ''varāha'' is from P ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Indian Rock-cut Architecture
Indian rock-cut architecture is more various and found in greater abundance in that country than any other form of rock-cut architecture around the world. Rock-cut architecture is the practice of creating a structure by carving it out of solid natural rock. Rock that is not part of the structure is removed until the only rock left makes up the architectural elements of the excavated interior. Indian rock-cut architecture is mostly religious in nature. There are more than 1,500 known rock-cut structures in India. Many of these structures contain artwork of global importance, and most are adorned with exquisite stone carvings. These ancient and medieval structures represent significant achievements of structural engineering and craftsmanship. The effort expended often astonishes visitors, but seen from one aspect, a rock-cut structure is a decorated rock quarry; most of the stone removed was typically put to economic use elsewhere. In India, caves have long been regarded as sacr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vishnu Temples
Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" within the Trimurti, the triple deity of supreme divinity that includes Brahma and Shiva.Gavin Flood, An Introduction to Hinduism' (1996), p. 17. In Vaishnavism, Vishnu is the supreme being who creates, protects, and transforms the universe. In the Shaktism tradition, the Goddess, or Adi Shakti, is described as the supreme Para Brahman, yet Vishnu is revered along with Shiva and Brahma. Tridevi is stated to be the energy and creative power (Shakti) of each, with Lakshmi being the equal complementary partner of Vishnu. He is one of the five equivalent deities in Panchayatana puja of the Smarta tradition of Hinduism. According to Vaishnavism, the highest form of Ishvara is with qualities (Saguna), and have certain form, but is limitless, transcende ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chenjiamman
Chenjiamman or Senjiamman (aka Gingee Amman) (kamalakaniamman) is the guardian deity of Gingee. Her shrine sits atop the Rajagiri hillock in the Gingee Fort. History Early period In local legend, Gingee Amman is one of the seven virgin guardian deities of the village. Among the seven deities is another goddess known as Kamalakanni Amman, who is perhaps identical with Senjiamman herself. The Senjiamman shrine is supposedly the oldest one in the Gingee Fort, perhaps even older than the fort. In local lore, the name Senji for the fort and the town comes from Senjiamman. It is generally believed that the shrine was developed around 1200 AD when the early structure of Gingee Fort was constructed by Ananda Kon, chief of the local shepherd community. The small shrine of Senjiamman houses within its precincts a sacrificial altar. When the historian C.S.Srinivasachari wrote his book ''History of the Gingee and Its Rulers'' in 1943, he noted that the goddesses Senjiamman and Kamalakanni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gingee Venkataramana Temple
The Gingee Venkataramana Temple, built in the 16th century is the largest temple in Gingee. It was built by Muthialu Nayakan (Muthyala Nayaka) (1540 - 1550 CE) and dedicated to Venkateshwara. History The ruins of the Venkataramana temple is located in the outer lower fort inside the Gingee Fort complex. Parts of the temple were dismantled by different personages. In 1761 CE, when Gingee fell to French occupation, many tall graceful monolithic ornamental pillars were dismantled from this temple and taken to Pondicherry to be set around the base of the statue of Governor Dupleix. Later, in 1860 CE, a Jain official in the Madras Provincial Services, Sri Baliah, facilitated the dismantling of several stone-pieces including the great stone elephants from the Gingee Venkataramana temple, to make edifices in the Sittamur Jain temple. The successor of Muthialu Nayaka, named Venkatappa Nayaka, had permitted a Jain merchant to build the Sittamur shrine. Architecture The temple is a larg ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Desingh
Raja Desingh or Raja Tej Singh was a king of the Bundela Rajput who ruled Gingee in 1714 CE. Background The Mughal Empire defeated the Maratha Empire at Gingee in February 1698. In return for military services, the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb, granted a mansab rank of 2,500 and jagir land grant of 12 lakhs (1,200,000) to Raja Swarup Singh, a Bundela Rajput chieftain, along with the (fort commandership) of Gingee in 1700 AD. Raja Swarup Singh died of old age in 1714 AD. Hearing about the death of his father, Desingh, the newly married son of Raja Swarup Singh, started for Gingee from Bundelkhand, his ancestral home. Differing accounts have the Nawab of Arcot, Saadatullah Khan I somewhat recalcitrant to the Mughal Empire, and the terms of the grant from Aurangzeb were disputed, nevertheless a debt was claimed after Aurangzeb's death ... a debt that the Raja refused to pay, eventually the arrears of payments due amounted to 70 lakhs rupees (7 million), and being a defaulter fo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shashti Poorthi
Shashti Poorti is a Sanskrit word meaning completion of sixty. Also known also as "Shashti Abda Poorti" or "Ugraratha Santi"is a Hindu ceremony celebrating the 60th birthday of a male, akin to the renewal of marital vows. Etymology Shashti Poorti, or Shashtiabdha Poorthi, is celebrated on completion of 60 years of age. This term is derived from Sanskrit Shashti (English: Sixty); Poorti (English: Propitiate). It marks the completion of half the years of one's lifetime as in Hinduism, 120 years is considered the life span of a human being. The sixtieth year in one’s life is a significant milestone, a memorable turning point, a touching reminder of the rich, mellowed life that would unfold in the years to come. In fact, the Hindu calendar has 60 years (named Prabhav, Vibhav, etc.) that repeat themselves after every 60 years in an identical sequence. Shashti Poorti therefore marks the completion of one such cycle. For example, a person born in the year Pramodoot, having lived for 6 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kadava Dynasty
Kadava was the name of a Tamil ruling dynasty who ruled parts of the Tamil country during the thirteenth and the fourteenth century. Kadavas were related to the Pallava dynasty and ruled from Kudalur near Cuddalore in Tamil Nadu. Hiranyavarman, the father of Nandivarman II Pallavamalla is said to have belonged to the Kadavakula in epigraphs. Nandivarman II himself is described as "one who was born to raise the prestige of the Kadava family". Chiefs bearing the Kadava title figure as feudatories of the Cholas as early as the 12th century. During the reign of Kulothunga Chola II, there was a vassal called Alappirandan Elisaimohan alias Kulottungasola Kadavaradittan. The Kadava kingdom was at the height of their power briefly during the reigns of Kopperunchinga I and Kopperunchinga II. These two rulers were powerful enough to challenge the waning Chola dynasty during the reign of Rajaraja Chola III and Rajendra Chola III. The two Kopperunchingas have left a large number of inscripti ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast, it shares land borders with Pakistan to the west; China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the north; and Bangladesh and Myanmar to the east. In the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives; its Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a maritime border with Thailand, Myanmar, and Indonesia. Modern humans arrived on the Indian subcontinent from Africa no later than 55,000 years ago., "Y-Chromosome and Mt-DNA data support the colonization of South Asia by modern humans originating in Africa. ... Coalescence dates for most non-European populations average to between 73–55 ka.", "Modern human beings—''Homo sapiens''—originated in Africa. Then, int ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hiranyakashipu
Hiranyakashipu (; also known as Hiranyakashyap) was an Asura king of the ''daityas'' from the Puranic scriptures of Hinduism. His name literally translates to "clothed in gold" (''hiranya'' "gold" ''kashipu'' "soft cushion"), and is often interpreted as depicting one who is fond of wealth and sensual comforts. In the Puranas, however, it is also stated the name was derived from a golden throne called 'Hiranyakashipu' the asura sat in or nearby during the ''Atiratra'' (Soma) sacrifice. Hiranyakashipu's younger brother, Hiranyaksha was slain by Varaha avatar of Lord Vishnu. Angered by this, Hiranyakashipu decided to gain magical powers by performing a penance for Lord Brahma. He is subsequently killed by the Narasimha avatar of Lord Vishnu. His tale depicts the futility of desiring power over others and the strength of God's protection over his fully surrendered devotees (in the case of his son Prahlada). Hiranyakashipu, according to legend, earned a boon from Lord Brahma t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
